The core tasks of the Dean are:

To develop, implement and enhance the faculty's strategy in the field of teaching, research and valorisation, in accordance with the university's strategy:

• continued promotion of excellence in research and agenda setting in research, in accordance with the research strategy of the university and the faculty and the multidisciplinary priorities identified, as well as the relevant partnerships (national and international, public and private);
• create impact and outreach also with exploiting the unique character of the faculty where both natural and social sciences are present;
• with a strong sense of the demand from societal and scientific point of view: continued strengthening of undergraduate and graduate education in accordance with the faculty and university strategy;
• enhancement of the faculty's international profile in teaching and research;
• responsibility for the design and realisation of impact and valorisation in education and research;
• continued consolidation of the faculty's financial position, in particular by ensuring the continued enhancement of earning capacity and perform appropriate risk-management;
• enhancement of diversity in staff and student body;
• contribution to and implementation of university-wide programmes and projects.

To create momentum and internal cohesion:

• ensuring cooperation, synergy and liaison within and among the various and complementary departments of the faculty;
• creating a culture of teamwork, trust and liability with the ambition to develop from a situation with a collection of very strong individual outputs and disciplinary expertise to a collective synergetic outcome;
• foster a culture with more focus on (academic) leadership and an organization where efficiency and professionalism are common;
• creating a management and communication structure with transparent authority and responsibility;
• embark on innovative partnerships with internal and external parties, with due consideration of the changing ways in which research is funded;
• ensuring good relations with the faculty's employee and student participation bodies;
• encourage and facilitate new, ambitious initiatives in the faculty in line with the agreed strategic plans;
• develop and utilise existing potential, attract new potential, ensure diverse population of staff and students in gender and origin.

The new Dean:

• is a team player and connector within the faculty, the strategic theme Pathways to Sustainability, between faculties and abroad;
• is an authoritative academic with a proven ability to create synergy across disciplinary borders and with proven affinity with both the gamma and beta academic traditions represented in the Geosciences Faculty;
• engages and inspires others, especially within the faculty and the strategic research themes, and can organize on the basis of shared values, while maintaining the balance between unifying leadership and being decisive;
• is actively committed to excellence in university teaching;
• has a clear vision of both teaching and research;
• makes use of the Faculty Board and delegates management tasks and responsibilities to colleagues (Vice-Deans, Faculty Director and Heads of departments) as appropriate;
• has proven governance skills in several roles organizing the scientific field, and significant experience in administration and management;
• has knowledge of and experience with the Dutch Higher Education system and awareness of the Dutch culture;
• operates at a strategic level; has a long-term vision; is open and outward-looking;
• has a clear vision of the positioning and development of the full range of the complementary sciences, including links to other disciplines;
• has substantial international experience;
• has experience of working with the national and European granting organizations;
• has a relevant network that can be used to expand the position of the faculty;
• is receptive, seeks the debate: can resolve issues conclusively where necessary and stands behind decision taken;
• is able to maintain constructive relations with the staff and student participative bodies;
• communicates clearly and effectively.

Given the current composition of the Faculty Board a female is preferred for this position. 

The position offered is on a fulltime basis for a period of four years, with the possibility of one extension. The maximum monthly salary will be €9,812 (February 2019) on the basis of full-time work, with a further supplement of maximum 15 per cent. Additionally, Utrecht University offers an attractive package of secondary employment benefits. The salary and benefits are based on the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities and the Dutch law: WNT.

Utrecht University (1636) is a European research university that prides itself in providing excellence in teaching and education. The university is a member of the League of European Research Universities, and has achieved the highest position of any Dutch university in the international rankings. The university's teaching and research activities are closely integrated and are rooted in issues relating to science and society. The university has identified four core values: ambition - inspiration - commitment - independence; these values have been translated into a code of conduct for staff and students. Utrecht University published its Strategic Plan 2016-2020 in July 2016, charting the course for the university's development over the coming years. The university has formed strategic alliances with a number of other institutions such as UMC Utrecht, Eindhoven University of Technology, the University of Toronto and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The university organization
The university is organized in accordance with the Netherlands Higher Education and Research Act, and its organizational procedures are set down in governance and management regulations. The Executive Board oversees the management of the university. The university has seven faculties: Medicine - Veterinary Medicine - Science - Geosciences – Social and Behavioural Sciences - Law, Economics & Governance - Humanities, plus the University College and the Roosevelt Academy; the Faculty of Medicine is integrated within University Medical Centre Utrecht. The faculties are managed by their respective Deans. The university has two university-wide services: the University Library and the University Administration. Employee and student participation are organized at the university level by means of the University Council and the University Labour Representation Board; the Faculty Board and Programme Committees have a role in this at the faculty level.

• was created in 2003 from a merger between the Faculties of Earth Sciences and Geography and has four departments: Earth Sciences, Physical Geography, Sustainable Development and Human Geography and Planning;
• offers a comprehensive combination of geoscience research and education in both the natural and social sciences. This unique combination within a single faculty enables scientists and students to look beyond the limits of their own discipline and study natural and social issues in an integrated context;
• studies the Earth and its’ occupation; objects of research and education encompass a broad range of aspects: from the Earth's core to its surface, including the spatial and material utilisation of natural and human resources – always with a focus on sustainability and innovation;
• is the coordinator of the Utrecht University strategic theme Pathways to Sustainability and shares responsibility for shaping and implementing the research in this field with the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance;
• as a leader in the field of earth studies and sustainability, the Faculty of Geosciences stands for high-quality teaching in a challenging educational environment. The Graduate School and Undergraduate School of Geosciences offer 4 Bachelor’s degree and 14 Master’s degree programmes. The Faculty of Geosciences is with 3500 students the largest academic institute for Geosciences in the Netherlands;
• attracts students both from the Netherlands and abroad with its high quality programmes, a broad and an attractive range of courses, taught by a teaching staff with a proven quality;
• performs at top-level research with a clear focus, excellent research groups, and with leading partnerships such as with the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ);
• plays a key role in the university’s strategic theme of ‘Pathways to Sustainability’ and is strongly involved in the strategic theme ‘Institutions for Open Societies’;
• is together with other faculties world leading in scientific publications in the category ‘Environmental Sciences’ (2011- 2015) with citation impact scores higher than universities such as Stanford and Harvard;
• is closely involved in addressing social challenges, from the local to the global scale; research at the faculty is not only relevant to successfully resolve these challenges, but also makes tangible contributions to them by means of a multitude of innovative science-policy and science-practice interactions;
• has a large portfolio of externally funded research projects and programs with a contract value of M€ 111, which needs to be maintained and developed according to strategic choices and opportunities;
• has a yearly turnover of M€ 60.1; and approximately 600 fte (values correspond to year end 2017).

The aspirations, choices and opportunities identified for the faculty in the short and medium term are set out in the Strategic Plan Faculty of Geoscience 2017-2021. The faculty also contributes significantly to achieving the goals and aspirations set out in the Utrecht University Strategic Plan 2016-2020.